While The World Spins Madly On
by RiverxBoysxGirl
Summary: Rewrite of Romeo's departure. 'Little Wonders' spin-off following Romeo's diagnosis... Would Romeo make different decisions if he and Indi had a child? Would he still have left Indi? Would she fight harder to find him? How will Chris impact things? And will Romeo survive?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! Welcome to my new story. It's a spin-off of my first, Little Wonders, but it can be read with or without having read the first. ****It starts off with Romeo's diagnosis and will follow the show's version of the storyline with my own twists.**** Anyway, I've had several people asking me to incorporate Romeo's cancer storyline into L.W, but since I've already planned the story without it, I've decided to write either this as a one-shot, or a short story if there's enough interest.**

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**Chapter One:**

Cloud nine. Romeo and Indi were floating care-freely up in the clouds, to the skies and beyond having just opened Summer Bay's 'Body and Soul' Gym.

It was unbelievable how a series of words could completely tear that all apart for Romeo Smith. Entirely.

"It's a stage four melanoma. It's spread to your liver, your lungs… your brain. Some people have survived" Sid held his breath momentarily. Romeo was oblivious to the pause. It all still felt like a tonne of bricks coming down on him. On his life.

"…For up to a year."

The painstaking words stabbed all over Romeo like piercing knives.

Melanoma.

Spread.

Four.

Liver.

Lungs.

Brain.

… Up to a year.

_One_ year. He'd been married for _one_ _year_. His infant son wasn't even _near_ one year old. The hope for one more year of life that Sid, Romeo's father-in-law might as well have been one day as far he was concerned.

Hearing those words, he didn't know how to feel. He felt sick to his stomach. He felt numb. He felt overwhelmed. His head was ringing. The pain in his shoulder that had been cause of the present felt like shooting arrows. A lump in his throat ached. He struggled to breath.

He hadn't been able to muster up the courage to tell his wife the news that cancer was threatening their dreams, their life together, while it had been overcome-able in Romeo's eyes; a melanoma was a short term problem that they were going to have to and going to be able to overcome.

Now that he knew that it was going to change her life completely, knowing that eventually he was going to have no choice in leaving the love of his life as a widowed single-mother, Romeo had no idea how he was going to break his wife's heart. How he was going to be the one to tear their perfect life apart.

He was down in the pits, while Indi was at home, floating along, blissfully unaware, on their previously shared cloud of happiness.

And that was only Indi.

For the first moment since becoming a father, just months earlier, he mentally cursed the event. The happiness and joy that it had brought both himself and his wife with the prospect of a lifetime with their then-newborn baby boy together was going to be something else he would be forced to leave behind; the same little boy that he realized was unlikely to have any memory of him. His little boy who wasn't going to have a father…

Disbelief, shock, pain. None of those words even came close to the hit of emotion that he was feeling right now.

Sid was listing off treatment options that passed through Romeo's ears without his even recognizing their presence, while all of Romeo's pain, physical and emotional as his heart was gutted with pain, collaborated themselves to set Romeo's legs into action, hurrying him out of the hospital room that he wished and hoped he could erase from his memory… The hospital room that Sid had not followed him out of.

He was used to reactions such as Romeo's, he'd been the bearer of bad news to all too many families and individuals, but as he watched the tall blonde struggle down the hallway, Sid was hit the hardest now than with any of his other patients.

For doctors, professionalism was a must. He'd spent months preparing himself in his studies for preparing himself of bearing such bad news, practicing the art for the 23 years of his career.

No amount of training or practice could have numbed or diluted the difficulty of opening Romeo's test results and delivering them to him personally. You're not taught how to tear your son-in-law -whom was growing as close as a son's- life apart. You're not taught how to deal with knowing that your daughter and grandson's life will soon be void of a husband and father... They just don't train you for that.

#

Down on the beach, Romeo was sitting on the sandbank, watching out as the waves went in and out and in and out. The smooth repetition in a calming rhythm, numbed him to the world around himself until he felt a hand on his shoulder, having missed the calls of his name. He could have missed an entire day without even thinking twice about it.

"Hey, why didn't you answer me? I was calling out to you" Indi questioned as she carefully sat down next to her husband.

"Sorry. I'm in my own world right now, just thinking," he croaked without focus as his eyes settled on the baby in Indi's arms. "Can I have a hold?"

Indi didn't think twice, she didn't even have to reply as she willingly passed her husband their child. "So where have you been? I checked the gym and Heath said you'd been gone all morning."

He could have told her there and then, shattering her dreams, her life as she knew it. But to Romeo it felt almost physically impossible to do so.

So instead he didn't lie, but he also didn't tell her.

"I met up with your dad; we were chatting for a while."

"Secret men's business? Hey? Hey, hey?" Indi joked with a smile as she nudged Romeo in his side, before seizing the opportunity of their closeness, shuffling slightly closer to him, relaxing her head down as she rested it on his shoulder.

"Yeah... Something like that."

Their conversation had gradually been lulling into a silence, without either of them realizing it. The couple were as oblivious to the silence as Indi was to Romeo's inner turmoil, while she contently snuggled into her husband's form.

Indi was also oblivious to what Romeo would have given to gain even just a fraction of her mindset, her perspective... Her untainted, shatter-free view of their perfect family; their perfect life which they had mutually shared mere hours earlier, but for Romeo Smith, there was going back now.

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**The end. Or is it? That's up to you and whether or not you lot liked it/want more. **

**Enjoy the long weekend!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

Walking into the kitchen at 3 am, Sid Walker could have sworn that he had seen a ghost… And in a way, he had: in the form of the ghost of things to come.

His pale son-in-law was sitting at the table, looking straight ahead at the wall of the kitchen, or out the window into the dead of night. The only movement from Romeo was the rhythmic rocking of his sleeping son whom he held in his arms, as close to himself as possible. The sight stabbed at Sid's heart so he was quick to try and distract himself.

"Can't sleep?" the older man questioned as he made his way over to the kitchen sink for a glass of water. "Did Indi go down alright?"

"Yeah. I didn't get a chance to talk to her... The second Bailey was asleep, she was out like a light. I tried writing it all down, didn't really work" he sighed, looking down at his son in his arms. "He started stirring about an hour ago so I brought him out here so that he wouldn't wake her." The baby boy Romeo was referring to was long asleep.

Watching intently out of care for his son-in-law, he noticed his grandson Bailey was being held closer and closer to his father whose gaze ahead at nothing simply looked unemotional, tired. Numb.

Sid couldn't blame him, in fact; he too hadn't been able to sleep despite the physical tiring toll on his body. The emotional burden weighing down on him, especially the confidentiality of the matter had been weighing down on him too heavily.

"If you like, Romeo, I can be there with you when you tell her… Or I could tell her for you if you'd prefer."

The final sentence Sid spoke obviously sparked an interest or attention in Romeo who looked away from the wall to focus on his father-in-law. "Thanks, but I'll tell her. She's gotta hear this from me."

Sid noticed the weakening in Romeo's voice, the formally confident young adult a shell of his former self – even just saying the words were enough to get to him.

... Along with all of the other repercussions that came with the cancer, that were far greater that uttering a string of eleven words.

#

The next morning, Romeo had given up attempting to sleep by 6 AM. Even though he knew sleep was one of the fundamental things that his body needed to fight in the battle, his body simply didn't allow him that courtesy of falling to sleep.

By the time that Indi found him on the beach, having checked numerous places before getting a tip off from Heath who'd seen him sitting in the same position as the one Indi approached him in when he went for a morning surf hours earlier.

"Hey. You were gone early…. I was worried about you. You didn't tell me."

Amongst Indi's other words, the '_you didn't tell me'_ echoed deep within his mind, pounding in his heart and lodging itself in the back of his throat with far greater meaning that Indi realized for the time being.

"Sorry. I couldn't sleep so got up for an early start. Hey, didn't you have a check up appointment for Bay this morning? How is he?" Romeo questioned, looking over to the baby settled in his wife's arms.

Indi smiled, as she adjusted the baby's position to speak. "He's absolutely perfect. Big, strong, long, healthy. Nothing we didn't already know… But hey, when genetic _perfection_ is combined, why wouldn't he be? How are you?"

Romeo's lack of replying caused an alarm to sound for Indi, knowing her husband so well. However, the content of his fears was something that the oblivious woman missed the mark to pinpointing.

"It's going to get easier, Romeo. We'll get in a better routine with the gym and Bailes. It's _only_ going to get easier. We can manage it. We _are_ managing it… It's a big commitment, yes, but we're pulling this off babe!" Indi replied gently with an optimistic smile.

Romeo felt like the bearer of bad news as Indi's smile faded with his next suggestion, being replaced with confusion. "I think we should sell the gym… Get out of it."

"What are you talking about? Why would we do that? It's going to get easier Romeo! This is your dream and dad's going to lose heaps if we sell up."

"I'm sure that he'll understand…" Romeo started, before his wife spoke over him, not even stopping to consider the suggestion that he had put forward.

Clasping it with her free hand that was not holding their son, Indi squeezed Romeo's hand. "I'm scared too, Romeo, but whatever happens with the gym, we can deal with it, and we can certainly deal with Bay. Besides, if we keep up with the way we're going and make a success of the gym, you know the sort of potential future you and me are setting up for our family. For Bailey…"

Romeo could feel the stinging sensation that was coming from his eyes, triggered by his wife's words, so he pulled her along with their son, closer to his side, pressing a kiss to her forehead. In the embrace he looked passed her and out onto the beach further along, with Indi completely oblivious to his increasing bloodshot eyes as he kept the tears forming at bay from progressing any further.

However Romeo discovered his move to hide his turmoil as felt the physical comfort from his wife and baby, looking out over the beach and bay was only a reminder of what and who he loved… Everything that he would be forced to give up and leave.

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**So I have decided to continue this fic, slowly but surely! This chapter still ties in quite heavily with scenes on-screen but as of next chapter it'll be more original and steering away from the show more. Reviews are lovely, please let me know what you thought.**

**Next chapter: **

# Romeo confides in Sid as to why he hasn't told Indi about the cancer yet.

# Sasha and Indi discuss their suspicions of what Romeo and Sid have been so secretive about.

# As he begins saying his goodbyes, Romeo prepares for whisking Indi away for the weekend, but will he leave?


	3. Chapter 3

**First chapter since the fictitious Romeo Smith's death! Sob...**

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**Chapter 3:**

A few days later, Sid pulled Romeo out of the gym to catch up after having had no chance to talk alone since their early-morning discussion the day after discovering his diagnosis, while Sasha assisted Indi with Bailey in the gym.

"How have you been feeling?"

Romeo let out a completely unamused laugh, almost out of desperation or irony. "Honestly? Apart from my shoulder I've never felt better…"

"That's what makes it so hard to understand that…" Sid began to say from a medical perspective, before understanding the words that had been too personal to utter and complete his sentence. Instead, Romeo finished the job off for him. "That what? That I'm dying? That I'm running short on time? That I could drop dead at any tick of the clock? Yeah you're right… It _is_ pretty damn hard to wrap my head around that feeling the way I do."

"This is where the support comes in… Support from people like your _wife_."

Romeo knew that Sid couldn't be at peace with him completely while he hadn't let Indi in on his condition. However, despite his expectancy of Sid's suggestion, he still stopped on the spot, breaking the pattern of how they had been walking along the beach.

"Listen, Sid…" he started as he turned to hold onto the wire fence alongside the pathway, the fence being of absolutely no support to Romeo physically to hold him up or otherwise. Nothing like the support he would receive from Indi. "I keep trying to think of ways to tell her, to break the news… But you tell me how you tell the woman that you love more than anything, the woman you want to shelter from pain, the woman you want to support -_not the other way around_- that you're not going to be around for much longer? That you're not going to be able to able to do any of that soon."

Sid inhaled a deep breath, sending Romeo a sympathetic look, unable to answer his answer-less question.

"We were going to have a life together" Romeo started to explain, taking a moment to swallow the lump in his throat before continuing. "We were going to make a success of the gym… We were going to buy a house… We were going to raise our baby boy. _We_. Not just Indi."

Again, as Romeo confided in Sid, there were no words, no consolation that he could say to even _try_ to relieve his son-in-law's pain, and Romeo's honesty hadn't even finished yet.

"The day we got married, I made a promise to her that I would always look out for her… _Always_… When Bailey was born, I promised myself, I promised him that I was going to be the best father I could be for him, that I would be with him for every step of the way as he grew up… How am I supposed to tell her that I'm going to have to break those promises?!"

Looking up at Sid with all his desperation, Romeo resembled a boy much younger than the man that he was… He looked to his father-in-law with pleading eyes that reflected his pleading heart.

Sid was used to doctoring, fixing things and he would have given anything to fix this, to heal Romeo, even just the pain.

#

"Don't worry about it, Indi" Sasha said in an attempted reassurance to her sister as she trailed behind her pacing around the gym, with her nephew sitting on her hip as her attention was split between entertaining the baby and consoling his mother.

"Dad's probably just giving Romeo a lecture about how to run a gym" Sasha reassured, before looking over to Bailey, giving his stomach a tickle and cooing the rest of her sarcastic suggestion to the baby instead. "Cause Grandad Sid's just _such_ an expert on gyms. Isn't that right, Bay?!"

"They've been gone for ages though, Sash. They've been really secretive recently too."

"Rest assured Indi, I'm reasonably sure that they're not wrapped up in some secretive love affair tryst together."

Indi's worried pout was threatened by the hideous suggestion, while Sasha laughed at her own joke.

As Romeo and Sid entered the room, Sasha normalized again enough to inform her sister of Sasha's brother-in-law and father's presence. "Speak of the devil's Indi… Our papa's are back Bailes!"

Sasha quickly walked over to the younger of the two fathers' that had just entered the gym, handing Romeo his son, whom she spoke to in a manner as though the speechless baby would return the conversation at any moment.

"There we are, your mum can stop with her stress-heading now that your dad's back, while aunty Sash gets to go outside and try to get a few shades darker of albino-white… It's a win-win situation!"

The teenager pressed a kiss to her nephew's hair, starting to leave the building that was at the current moment mostly occupied by her family member's rather than members of the public that had come to use the gym.

While Romeo was still somewhat dazed and consumed by the emotional conversation he had just had with Sid, what his sister-in-law had just said as she passed him Bailey caused alarm-bells to sound unsettlingly in Romeo's mind.

"Sash stop!" Romeo warned quickly to catch the girl's attention before she left the room en-route to her destination that he wanted to stop her from out of care. "If you're going outside, make sure you put sunscreen on. There's some behind the counter."

The strong-willed teenager grimaced at the suggestion unappealingly. "Ugh, it gets all over your hands and you feel all oily… No thanks! I'll risk it" Sasha replied honestly, turning around to continue on her way, unfazed by Romeo.

"SASHA!" Romeo snapped in a second desperate attempt, which was not only a surprising occurrence for him to raise his voice, but especially at someone who could not remember a time that he had ever done so at her before or whether this was an out of character first time. "It's only a _tan_. It's just not worth it. Please."

While Sasha was secretly setback from the strange outburst, she aided humour to disguise her surprise as she obeyed the command. "Geez Romeo, fatherhood really has made you overprotective and paranoid, hasn't it? Besides, I never remember you being the sponsor of Banana Boat sunscreen!"

Across the room, Sid knew the prompt behind the outburst all too well as he saw the flicker of disappointed turmoil that fleeted across his son-in-law's face, while the other two girls were oblivious to the fact of it being so heavily prompted by Sid's youngest daughter's comment as she caved into the suggestion and remained inside.

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**So this chapter was a little bit different to how I had initially expected it, but it's up! Thank you to all you lovely reviewers on the last chapter!**

**Next chapter: **

**# Sid continues to push Romeo to tell Indi about the cancer. **

**# Romeo starts saying his goodbye's to those he is closest to before he and Indi's romantic weekend... Will he leave? **


End file.
